1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compressor, and in particular to a scroll-rotation prevention assembly of a scroll compressor.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the advancement of science and technology, scroll compressors are widely used in refrigerators or air conditioners. Generally, the scroll compressor is provided with a pair of spiral scroll elements engaged with each other, including an orbiting scroll and a fixed scroll. The orbiting scroll is rotatable relative to the fixed scroll, thereby defining one or more compression cavities. The sizes of the compression cavities are gradually reduced from an air inlet to an air outlet.
The relative rotation between the spiral orbiting scroll and the spiral fixed scroll is controlled by an Oldham ring. The Oldham ring is fixed between a primary supporting casing and the orbiting scroll. Alternatively, the Oldham ring is fixed between the orbiting scroll and the fixed scroll. The Oldham ring is provided with a protruding key. The orbiting scroll and the fixed scroll are provided with a key slot to correspond to the protruding key respectively. The protruding key is slidably received in the key slot, so that the position of the Oldham ring is restricted by the fixed scroll. Then, the position of the orbiting scroll is restricted by the Oldham ring, thereby preventing the orbiting scroll from rotating. In this way, the compression cavities can be prevented from suffering damage.
However, the protruding key of the Oldham ring repeatedly collides with the key slots of the orbiting scroll and the fixed scroll, resulting in the stress concentration of the protruding key. Further, the Oldham ring is often made of aluminum alloys, while the orbiting scroll and fixed scroll are made of stainless steel. Thus, the hardness of the orbiting scroll or the fixed scroll is larger than the hardness of the Oldham ring, which causes the wear of the Oldham ring. As a result, the Oldham ring has to be replaced periodically, which increases the maintenance cost and reduces the efficiency of the compressor.
In view of the above, the present Inventor proposes a novel and reasonable structure based on his expert knowledge and deliberate researches.